For better or worse, the bacon and egg muffin has become a regular breakfast staple for thousands of Australians on their daily commute to work. It's relatively affordable, big enough to fill a hole without making you feel bloated and can be eaten with one hand while driving. (This is stupid and dangerous, but then, so is most fast food.)

The majority of fast food chains that open for breakfast offer a variant of this snack, but the most popular choices remain McDonald's Bacon & Egg McMuffin and, to a lesser extent, Hungry Jack's Bacon & Egg Muffin. On first glance, both products seem pretty indistinguishable: each is comprised of a toasted English muffin, a single rasher of bacon, cheese and a disc-shaped egg.

Left: Hungry Jack's. Right: McDonald's.

However, there are some significant differences in price, appearance, nutritional value and taste that become readily apparent in a side-by-side comparison. Let's take a look at each in turn.

Price

McDonald's Bacon & Egg McMuffin commands an asking price of $4. Hungry Jack's Bacon & Egg Muffin, meanwhile, costs a slightly more reasonable $3.35. Even if you only buy one McDonald's McMuffin per week, that's still a not inconsiderable markup of $33.80 each year. As we have demonstrated in the past, Hungry Jack's also lets you add tomato, onion, lettuce and beetroot to any muffin free of charge, thus upping the value even higher.

When it comes to value for money, Hungry Jack's Bacon & Egg Muffin is the clear winner.

Appearance

As you can see from the below photo, neither muffin looks particularly mouth-watering: this is breakfast fuel churned off the production line, plain and simple.

Left: Hungry Jack's. Right: McDonald's.

With that said, the McDonald's McMuffin (right) does look slightly more palatable thanks to its darker cheese and well-cooked bacon -- there's even a trace of frying pan charcoal on the meat. By contrast, the Hungry Jack's bacon looks soft and pale, almost as if it's been steamed.

When judged on looks alone, the McDonald's McMuffin comes out on top.

Nutritional breakdown

Energy

Fat

Sugars

Sodium

McDonald's
Bacon & Egg
McMuffin

1240kJ

13.2g

1.9g

698mg

Hungry Jack's
Bacon & Egg
Muffin

1255kJ

12.7g

3.1g

790mg

As you can see, the Hungry Jack's Bacon & Egg Muffin is a slightly naughtier choice. On the other hand, it gives you more energy for a smaller asking price, which could be a plus in some circumstances. We'll let you make the call on this round depending on your lifestyle.

Taste

They say you get what you pay for, and that's certainly true of egg and bacon muffins. The McDonald's version simply tasted better. We especially preferred the texture of the bread which was both crisper and fluffier. The bacon was pleasantly firm and there was a lot more flavour in the cheese.

Left: McDonald's. Right: Hungry Jack's.

The only things the Hungry Jack's Bacon & Egg Muffin had going for it was its slightly bigger size. Otherwise, it was trumped by the McMuffin in almost every area. The bread barely felt toasted which is bound to be disappointing if you don't have a sandwich press handy. (The egg, meanwhile, was equally bland on both muffins.)

Winner: McDonald's Bacon & Egg McMuffin (just)

It was a close thing, but in the end we had to crown McDonald's the winner due to the McMuffin's superior flavour and texture. It also wins points for being available 24/7 - not just during breakfast hours.

With that said, if you're a stickler for value though, go for the Hungry Jack's version!

What would you like to see in the next face-off? Share your suggestions in the comments section below.

Comments

Maccas for the win obviously though I found I get reflux when I eat their egg. Must be my age catching up to me. I now opt for the Sausage McMuffin and slide a hash brown in it for that extra substance.

Last time I did sausage muffins, I found the Hungry Jacks patty to be tastier. I should try McDonalds again though, it's probably been 10 years since I last had one from them. The only fast food joint in walking distance is Oporto.

It's been a long time since I worked at McDonald's, but we used to sell 10 S&E for every B&E.
The bacon was pre-cooked and just dropped in the grill for 20 seconds.
The eggs were normal eggs dropped into a ring on the grill with a bit of water steaming them. I never understand why they're so rubbery.

Hungry Jacks for breakfast is with their Breakfast Wraps - bacon, egg, sausage, cheese (tomato and onion if you ask for it) in a grilled wrap with some BBQ sauce. Even comes with a version with a hash brown in it.

When it comes to Maccas and HJs, the food quality largely comes down to the individual store, the individual preparing it, and the time of day you go through. Sometimes, you can get a damn nice muffin from them. Other times, it will be a disappetising half-cooked mess.

In other words, most the reasons you awarded this to Maccas are largely irrelevant because the food/preparation quality itself has no consistency.

(Please note, I'm not saying he's right or wrong, I'm just saying you can't award a winner based on an inconsistent variable without a much, much larger sample size covering a wide variety of factors such as time of day, location, staff working, etc)

I didn't used to believe this but it is indeed true. I've been to certain stores that serve you slop in a cardboard box, but the Brisbane Airport HJ's just manages to make fantastic meals every time. The Brisbane city store under the Myer Center does a fantastic job too. Same with the Maccas stores in the city, yet a lot of the Urban stores like Inala? Holy crap no...